This invention relates to the general subject of sports entertainment, and in particular to apparatus and methods which enhance a viewers enjoyment of televised golfing activities on golf greens. More specifically, the present invention relates to a system for displaying, prior to a golf putt, a desired trajectory for a golf ball to take in order to fall into the golf cup.
The televised presentation of the portion of a golf tournament or game which takes place on the golf greens can be significantly improved by enhancing the video broadcast to make the presentation more interesting to the viewers. For example, approximately 50% of the televised video at a golf tournament takes place on the golf greens. However, in the present state of the art, when the players hit their approach shots onto the green, the viewers must rely on the analyst or announcer, who is assigned to that particular green, for an evaluation of the xe2x80x9cbreakxe2x80x9d or slope of the green which will influence the players putts. A television screen is a two dimensional display surface. Since there are seldom objects on the television screen which show the viewers a horizontal or vertical line for reference purposes, visually determining from the two dimensional projection on the television screen whether a putt is uphill, downhill, or across the slope of the green is virtually impossible.
Therefore, the viewers are left in a position where they cannot analyze whether, or which way, the putts will break. The only recourse is to accept the analysts opinion and wait for a putt to be struck to visually assess the break. To determine the path required to make the putt, or to lag it close to the cup, the golfer will walk around the green, studying the slopes influencing the putt, and will then mentally compute and select the path and the weight with which the ball must be struck along that path to roll the golf ball into the cup, or to come to rest no further than 18 inches past the cup.
An enhancement is embodied in this invention which will enable the viewers to know the proper line for the putt in advance of the putt being struck. The projection and display of lines of equal elevation, known as contour lines, onto the real-time televised image of the golf green provides the viewing audience with a depth of information exceeding that which is normally available to the analyst who is assigned to that green. These contour lines are spaced at intervals that can be indicated on the video screen. Small arrows can be affixed at right angles to the contour lines showing the viewers the downslope direction on the green.
Elevation numbers can be shown on the contour lines, and these together with the arrows pointing downslope easily enable the viewers to assess the difficulty of the various players"" putts by studying the direction and amount of slope, i.e. either uphill, downhill, side-hill, or flat, between each golf ball and the golf cup. With minimal training by the analyst, the unfamiliar viewers can readily determine, using the present invention, which putts are the least or the most difficult, thereby greatly enhancing their viewing enjoyment of the match.
The broadcast networks have at various times attempted to show the break, i.e. the curved path, of the putts by having the analyst draw a crude line on the video screen between the golf ball and the cup. However, this line is only a rough approximation of the true trace (track or trajectory) of the putt and the viewers are still not certain of the break until after the golf ball has been struck by the player and is rolling toward the cup, at which time they can actually perceive it on the two dimensional TV screen.
The broadcast networks have also attempted the use of various graphic depictions of the greens. These graphics have generally been rotated to give the illusion of a three dimensional view of the green. However, because an exaggerated vertical scale is usually used on these graphics, there must be a return from graphics to the real-time television image of the green before the player strikes the ball. Since the real-time image does not allow the viewers to visually determine the break in advance of the ball being struck, it still leaves the viewer dependent upon the live broadcast analyst for information regarding the break on each players golf ball.
Another useful enhancement embodied in this invention is the projection and display of the calculated line of the putt on the real-time video screen. This projection is based upon an equation of motion which calculations incorporate the weight of the ball; the relationship between the ball and the hole; the Stimpmeter measurement or speed (frictional resistance) of the green; and the gravitational influence on the roll of the ball. This enhancement adds immensely to the viewers"" enjoyment by allowing them to see the trace (track or trajectory) of the path of the putt annotated and displayed on their television screen before the putt is struck.
The addition of these enhancements to the golf tournament viewers"" television screen provides more information for the viewers use than has previously been available and can stimulate their interest in more closely watching golf tournament activities which take place on the greens.
In accordance with the methods and apparatus of the present invention, a system is disclosed which enables the viewers of a televised broadcast of a golf tournament to determine the proper line of a player""s putt toward the golf cup, before the player strikes the golf ball, thereby greatly enhancing the viewers"" enjoyment of the game. This system comprises methods and apparatus for: obtaining detailed topographic measurements of the greens on a golf course; inputting these data into a Geographic Information System (GIS) program, smoothing the data, and generating contours on a selected interval to generate a database image; storing and processing the contour data such that it may be viewed from various perspectives; selecting a real-time televised image of a golf green from a plurality of camera positions; synchronizing and superimposing the aforesaid database image over the televised live video feed to achieve registration; computing and processing an equation of motion which takes into account the initial ball position, the speed of the green, the wind effect, and the gravitational influence of the slopes, to determine an optimal path the ball can take to roll into the golf cup, or to come to rest within 18 inches of the cup; and displaying the combined images along with the projection of the calculated ball path on a real-time televised broadcast. Before the golfer strikes the golf ball toward the cup, this system provides the viewers with a visual image of a path the golf ball could traverse to result in a successful putt.
Referring to FIG. 4, the first step in the process is to acquire detailed topographic data on the putting greens of a selected golf course. Accurate surveying instruments must be used, which will provide elevations with minimal error. These data are then loaded into a system control computer database and processed to create smoothed contours on desired intervals, which best portray the slope details of the golf greens. One of the greens can then be selected for viewing, and the appropriate contours can be brought up out of the database. Concurrently, a real-time television image of the selected green, or an image which was stored in the database before tournament play began, can be retrieved from the database, along with the contours for that green, and the two images are then synchronized and registered.
Television broadcast cameras are traditionally deployed in a plurality of positions around golf greens at a golf tournament, with particular emphasis on three specific camera positions. The first camera is positioned aboard a lighter-than-air blimp, which circles over the golf course and which has the capability of focusing on any of the greens on the course. A second camera, known as the platform camera, is typically positioned immediately adjacent to each green on a platform reserved specifically for the use of this camera. Thirdly, multiple green-side positions are available to a shoulder-held camera which can be used to obtain close-up shots of the players"" activities on and around the golf greens.
The real-time TV picture of a green can then be selected. This picture originates from one of the three camera positions assigned to monitor the green. As the approaching players"" golf balls land on the green and come to rest, their positions are determined and registered using a mouse, light pen, digitizing tablet, or other pointing device, and this data is incorporated into the database. Alternatively, the rest positions of the golf balls and the position of the shoulder-held camera can be located and registered by shooting them in with a laser surveying instrument or in the case of the shoulder-held and blimp cameras, they can be located and registered using a Global Positioning System (GPS) package attached to the cameras. Similarly, pattern recognition techniques could be used to register the ball and camera positions by comparison with the video image of the empty green held in the database. In any event, these initial positions, which are necessary as input data to the system of the present invention, are obtained by one of the above described methods.
In the next step, equations of motion which take into account the physical relationships between the balls, the cup, the speed of the green, and the gravitational influence of the slopes, are used to calculate and to determine a trajectory which will result in a golf ball rolling into the cup, or coming to rest within 18 inches of the cup. Successively, the trajectory of each remaining putt can be calculated and can be displayed on the screen, and these annotations superimposed over a live image, prior to the players"" putting the golf balls.
There are many variations which could be employed in the use of these three camera positions. However, one camera position sequence which can be visualized begins with the overhead blimp camera zooming-in on a green which is being approached by a group of golfers. The contours for that specific green can be synchronized with the real-time television feed of that green and displayed on the screen prior to or as the approach shots are landing on the green. Prior to the arrival of the players, the announcer can discuss with the viewing audience the preferred landing area on the green and the effect of the contoured slopes on the individual players putts as their golf balls land on the putting surface.
The televised picture can then be switched from the blimp camera to the platform camera, to focus on the overall green, and then zoomed-in to focus on a specific player""s putt. When the player has finished examining the slopes of the green in relation to his or her putt, and is moving into position to strike the putt, the televised picture can then be switched to the green-side, shoulder held camera, which has typically taken a position behind the player, in line with the hole, such that the roll of the green, or the break of the putt can best be visually observed by the television viewers. The contours which create the break on the putt are in view on the screen in their proper perspective, and these contours allow the viewers to anticipate the path which the putt will take prior to the ball being struck. The calculated trajectory (track or path) of the putt can also be shown on the screen and optionally can be left on while the putt is struck, or it can be removed just prior to the players putt. This same general sequence of camera positions, using principally the platform and shoulder cameras, could be repeated on each of the remaining player""s putts. The camera sequence described above or a plurality of variations, can be used to display the enhancements contained in the present invention.
Advantages of this invention are the addition of the contours and the calculated ball trajectory to the television viewers"" screen. The presence of the contours will for the first time allow the viewer to comprehend and read the slopes of the green, and the plot of the trace of the ball trajectory will provide the viewer with a competent visual assessment of the break of the putts before they are struck. This type of information and degree of accuracy has never before been available to the audience viewing the broadcast of a golf tournament.
Other features and advantages of this invention will be understood from the following detailed description thereof when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings which are intended as illustrative and not limitations.